Rotary cutter



1940- R. E. BENNER 2,186,092

' ROTARY CUTTER Filed Oct. :50, 1937 INVENTO RUSSELL E.BENNER BY M l ATT R N EY.

Patented Jan. 9, 1940 UNITED STATES ROTARY CUTTER Russell E. Benner, New York, N. Y., assignor. by

mesne assignments, to Remington Rand Inc., Buffalo, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application October-30, 1937, Serial No. 171,887

2 Claims.

This invention relates to electric razors and more particularly to improvements in the cutting head thereof.

It'is well known that the cutting members and mechanism of an electric razor are subject to damage or wear. It acccordingly becomes necessary to replace these parts; however, in most cases the cost is very high due to the precision with which the parts must be manufactured.

Another defect of the present electric razors is that due to the construction the hair cuttings fall from the cutter thereby causing an undesirable litter.

It is therefore the principal aim of this im provement to provide a replaceable cutting means the parts of which do not have to be manufactured with the usual precision and are therefore available at a reasonable cost. This is particularly true of the rotating cutter hereinafter shown to be formed of one piece of twisted metal. I I

A further object is to provide a cutting head the shearing action of which is effected by the coaction of a rotating cutter with an easily replaceable blade of the safety type.

A still further object is to'provide a cutting head the internal parts of which are readily accessible for cleaning.

Another object is to provide a mounting for a stationary blade in the cutting head which not only permits easy replacement but automatic sharpening thereof. 1 V

A still.further object is to provide a cutting head the construction of which forms a recep- "tion of the device taken substantially on line tacle into which the cuttings fall and are retained.

Other objects of this invention will appear from the following detailed description of the various forms of structure comprising thi's'invention, and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction, arrangement and. relative location of parts,- all as will be described in greater detail in the following specification and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is an end elevation of one form-of electric razor embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a frontelevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view-of the same.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical sec- 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig 5 is a horizontal section of the device taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 4, with the rotating cutter shown in full.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 1,. with parts omitted for clearness. 5

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of the device with the blade cap removed and parts broken away to disclose the drive mechanism.

Like characters of reference refer to like parts in all views. 10

Referring to the drawing in detail, l0 indicates a motor housing which also forms a convenient handle for the device as shown in Fig. 1. The motor is of any suitable well known type,

and is not shown or further described as it forms no part of this invention. The front face ll of the said housing I0 is fastened thereto by four screws l2 and provides ready access to the working parts. The top of said housing l0 (Fig. 4)

is provided with a narrow rectangular groove I3. The center of the top of housing I0 is provided with a round aperture HI, through which. a motor driven shaft l5 extends, the aperture l4 forming one of its bearings.

A housing It for the shearing members and mechanism is constructed of any suitable ma' terial and is in three distinct parts. A rear wall l1 and the respective side walls I8 and H] are integral and constitute one part. A'blade cap 20 constitutes another part while a front wall 2| is the third part thereof. The base of the rear wall I! has an extension 22 (Fig. 4) which snugly engages the rectangular groove I 3 and in which'it is fastened by screw 23. A ledge 24 is formed along the top of the rear wall H. The side walls I8 and I!) are adapted to rest on the top of housing 10. Integral with and joining the bottom front end portions of side walls l8 and I3 is a strip 25, which is formed with a hinge loop 26 on its front face. The strip 25 is secured to the top front portion of the housing III by a pair of screws. The front wall 2| is formed as shown in Figs; 1 and 2 as being arcuate in shape with depending ears 28 having apertures therein adapted to be aligned with the hinge loop 26 of strip 25. The upper edge of wall 2| is formed with comb teeth 21. A pin 30 positioned in the ears 28 and loop 26 pivotally secures the wall 2| to the cutting head. The wall 2| is also provided with rearwardly extending arms 29 having forked slots 3| cut in the extreme rear edges thereof. Inserted in each of the side walls of member 2| is a bearing32 adapted to carry the pintles of a rotatable cutter member 33. Said member 33 in cross section as shown in Fig. 4 appears to be of a cruciform shape and is made of one piece of steel twisted into the shape illustrated in Fig. 5.

Blade cap 20 is formed as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 with depending arms 35 provided with apertures 36 therein. The side walls l8 and I9 are each provided with a tapped hole 34 for accommodating a knurled screw 31. The knurled screws pass through the apertures 36 to pivotally mount the cap 20 on the cutting head.

With the screws 31 loosened, the wall 2| carrying the rotatable cutter 33 may be rocked to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 to permit cleaning of the parts. When rotated to operative position the forked slots 3| straddle the screws 31 which when tightened securely hold the wall 2| in position with the gears 45 and 41 in mesh.

It is obvious from the above that the blade 38 which is inexpensive may be easily and quickly replaced and that the engagement of cutter 33 therewith provides a honing action which is very desirable.

In operation the hairs of the beard are caught by the comb 21 and aligned with the rotating cutter 33 which carries them against the edge of the blade 38 where they are cut by a shearing action. It will be seen by referring to Fig. 4 that after the hair is cut-it will fall into the cutting head and be retained there until the front wall or the blade cap 20 and blade are removed at which time the accumulated cuttings may be cleaned out.

The top of the side walls are provided with projections 39,.for locating a blade-38, very much like the safety razorblade well known in the art except that grooves 40 are formed on each side thereof to engage the projections39.

At the end of themotor-operated shaft I5 is a helical gear 4|. Meshing with said. helical gear is a similar .gear 42 secured to a shaft 43, at substantially the center thereof, by a set screw 44. At one end of said shaft 43 is a gear 45 which is afiixed thereto by a set screw 46. Meshing with In the operation of the device above described, shaft I5 is rotated by the above mentioned motor in the handle and in turn rotates the helical gear 4|. Gear 4| meshing with gear 42 rotates the transverse shaft 43 which in turn rotates said gear 45. Gear 45 meshes with gear 41 and thereby causes the said cutter 33 to rotate.

Blade '38 when inserted in the head restson the ledge 24 and the grooves 40 thereof engage the projections 39. The'front edge of said blade 38 comes into close relation with the rotatable the gear 45 is a gear 41 on said rotatable cutter 33 r 45 cutter 33.

the screws 31. In this way, the blade 38 may be either removed, cleaned or replaced by another blade.

The front wall 2| is fastened tight to the side walls I8 and 9 by tightening screws 31 about.

which the fork like projections of the out out portions 3| straddle. To disengage the said front wall 2| for access to inner parts of the housing l6, screws 37are loosened and said front wall 2| is moved downward on pivot pin 30.

While I have described what I consider to be a highly desirable embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that many changes in form could be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I, therefore, do not limit myself to the exact form herein shown and described, nor to anything less than the whole of my invention as hereinbefore set forth, and as hereinafter claimed.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a shaving implement of the type described, the combination of a motor housing forming a suitable handle; a cutter housing having a rear wall, side walls integral therewith and a curved'front wall; means for removably securing said cutter housing to the said motor housing; combing teeth formed on the top of said iront wall of said cutter housing; a detachable blade cap; a stationary blade resting flat beneath said blade cap supported by a ledge at the top of,

said rear wall; a rotatable cutter of one piece of twisted metal having close coaction with the said blade; means for facilitating access to the internal parts of the said cutter housing; a rdtating shaft; a helical gear at the head of said rotating shaft; and a transverse shaft having one gear meshing with said helical gear and another engaging a gear onsaid rotatable cutter.

2. In a shaving implement of the type described, the combination of a motor housing forming a suitable handle a cutter housing having a rear wall, side walls integral therewith and a curved front wall; means for removably securing said cutter housing to the said motor housing; combining teeth formed on the top of said front wall; a detachable blade cap; a stationary blade clamped fiat beneath said blade cap, said blade being supported by a ledge at the top of said rear wall; a rotatable cutter formed of one piece of metal having a helical shape; and meansfor imparting a rotary movement to the said rotatable cutter.

RUSSELL E. BENNER.

The blade cap 20 clamps blade. 38 firmly in place and is removable by unloosening 

